Joey Sanders Show

Was Dr. Laura's Point Valid

2010-08-22T14:36:00.001-07:00

I know it has been several weeks since I have done a show, and I make no excuses for that absence. I have a major project that required my focus at my full time job, and I have been working there to get it completed on the tight deadline we have been given. I would love to be able to do this full time, and do my real job when I have time, but that is not the path God has laid out for me at this time.

I know in many parts of the country that summer is over and kids are back in school. We have not gotten to that point yet. We are still a few weeks out. This summer has been a little bit different for us. 4 of the 5 kids are growing up, getting a social life, so spending time with Brunella and I seems has become a lower priority. I am not complaining. I just have to keep reminding myself that they are growing up so I have to give the the room to experience the events that go with that. We still plan things as a family, and we are all close enough that I don't see that changing as each of them continue to make their way into teenagers and young adults.

I was going to wait another week before getting back to a normal broadcast schedule, but the current situation just begged for me to come back and allow some rational discussion of this topic. I know the TV guys have had their fun, and most radio hosts have stayed away from this for their own reasons. I am neither, and too many of my friends in and out of broadcasting have asked for my take on this to just sit on the sidelines and not talk about it.

Now, let me start by saying Dr. Laura and I are not friends. We have met twice, and spoke briefly both times. The first time I was a complete smart-ass, at a New Orleans NAB convention at the reception in her honor. She walk up and introduced herself, so I told her I didn't care who she was, I was there for the free boiled shrimp platters they were giving out.

The second time, we met at another NAB convention, but this time my boss, who was a friend of hers, introduced us to each other. We talked about how I liked her approach because she doesn't play favorites. She treats all her callers the same, and tells them the way she sees it no matter if they like it or not. She explained that she feels, as I do, that talk radio listeners can smell BS a mile away, and that the only way to keep a loyal following is to speak your mind.

I have listened to the unedited audio from this broadcast. I have seen both the long form transcript of the entire call, and the edited, slanted, and biased transcript put out trying to make more of the situation than what really happened. I feel Dr. Laura chose her words poorly. There are several different ways she could have said the same thing without using the "N word" over 10 times. She got caught up in the conversation and was reacting to the situation, plus I am sure just a little frustrated with the caller who seemed to be a little dense, or perhaps a little miffed Dr. Laura disagreed with her point. No matter the reason, there were other options, and in hindsight, I am positive Dr. Laura wishes she had decided to use one of them.

The fact is, she used the word because at that moment, she felt she had to make the point that this one word has been put to one of the most extreme double standards known to man. I am not making excuses, but instead want to point out that she did not use this to describe a person, or to demean anyone. She instead was explaining what she hears when she listens to certain entertainers and programs geared to African Americans.

It should never be OK for anyone to use this word, ever. The history of how this word should make it something that no one wants to invoke no matter what the situation. It is a word that no matter how it is used means you are demeaning the person you are using it to describe. Doesn't matter the color of your skin, the heritage of your family, or the economic background you come from, this word is has a negative impact, and should be something that no one would want to have in their vocabulary.

Was her point valid? Is this word used repeatedly by African American entertainers? Why if this is such a bad word, would they want to demean themselves and others by uttering this devastating hate speech? I know it supposedly means something different when said by a black man, but the fact is, it doesn't.

My father, and grandfather for that matter, always told me respect is earned. You get people to respect you by your actions. If you don't want people to demean you, your heritage, or your race in a certain fashion, it starts with you not doing it yourself. Excusing the bad behavior because it has always been that way is not an excuse. It has to be a conscious decision to take the stand that you won't do it, and you won't allow it in your presence from anyone you know.

I speak from experience. My heritage is "Acadian American" as my friends back home dubbed it one time. I am a proud Cajun. For decades, Cajuns were referred to as the rear end of a raccoon by many people. As my grandfather explained to me as I became a teen, this was actually started as a Cajun French word for ignorant. Because it sounds similar was eventually changed by non-French speaking people to the rear end of a raccoon. Many Cajuns embraced this, to the point you can to this day find merchandise for Certified and Registered rear end of a racoon's decals, bumperstickers, hats, t-shirts, etc. from that era. I try hard not to use that word to describe our heritage anymore, but I slip up in a heated debate from time to time. But the first step is to make the conscious decision not to use that word anymore.

Dr. Laura was also talking about the fact that some become hypersensitive and see racism and hatred where there is none. In the instance she was talking about, I feel she was right again. Some people have not been taught the social skills not to ask ignorant questions. In the case Dr. Laura was dealing with, Caucasian friends of the African American person she was talking to was asking the caller if black people really do this, or do that. That is someone being curious, and to be honest rude because of ignorance, of other people's culture. I would bet if she asked her friend if they realized that was rude, or hateful, the person asking the question would be completely upset she thought that way.

I have seen this type of ignorance first hand. My brother in law, who happens to be African American has had this exact thing happen to him repeatedly over the years in my presence. Like I do when people ask me how a fat man like me can do something I've just accomplished, he usually just smiles, and answers their question. Admittedly, sometimes the answer is sarcastic. I've found it is easier to just answer the question and move on. Attempting to educate the ignorant is usually only causes the person asking the question to feel as though you are being paranoid, they don't see the issue.

I think what really got me about this whole situation is that Dr. Laura admitted she made a poor choice. She apologized for the lapse of judgement. There are people and groups out there that are acting as if she said this pointed at a person, or that just saying the word, no matter the context makes her racist. There are even people promoting that we should make the "N-word" the 8th deadly word regulated by the FCC. Well, please do. That way when they slap huge fines on guys like Dave Chappel, Kat Williams, and the dozens of African American entertainers out there using this word in the most negative way possible, the people attempting to exploit this faux pas by Dr. Laura will have no choice but to prove that Dr. Laura was actually right even if her choice of words was wrong.

Coming up we'll talk about the latest in the Gulf of Mexico, and how BP is trying to limit their libality. We'll also have this week's News You Can Use, and of course we want to hear your opinion, call in right now, (646) 595-3426. This is The Joey Sanders Show on Blog Talk Radio.

Tomorrow's show

2010-07-24T15:01:00.001-07:00

Just wanted to remind everyone that The Joey Sanders Show airs tomorrow at 3PM on http://www.blogtalkradio.com/radiojs with the chat room opening at 2:45P Pacific Time.

A few of the things that have gotten my attention this week:
- Tropical Storm Bonnie
- Should celebrity split ups become such a circus?
- Is the heatwave across the USA a sign of global warming?

Plus News U Can Use and much more.

Joey
--
Sent from my Android phone with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my brevity.

4th of July As I see it.

2010-07-05T20:04:00.001-07:00

I hope you all enjoyed the festivities yesterday, and that you had the day off today. I got stuck working, which wasn’t that bad, since it was a skeleton crew and I had a small problem that kept me occupied most of my shift. July 4^th is an important day to celebrate. Though none of us were here on July 4^th 1776, if those brave men had not made the tough choices, and decided that the ways things were needed to be changed, we all would live a much different life. Our founding fathers made decisions that not only set America out on its own path, but also that gave each citizen the opportunity to make their own choices, make their own destiny, and forge a path their parents would have not have had the ability to.

That has not changed in the over 224 years since. I have been able to work in a field, mastering equipment and techniques that just 2 decades ago were not even on the drawing board. My children do more work online and on computers for school in one semester than was possible in my entire high school career. There are entire fields of career choices available to people today that did not exist only 10 to 15 years before. Most of these changes are due to experimentation, exploration, and breakthroughs made possible by the free market system that is the mainstay of our American economy.

Men like John Adams, Ben Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson spent months debating the choice of continuing to be a subject of royalty across a distant shore that treated this group of colonies as a depository of resources, or to forge out on their own, make their own republic, and govern themselves. Household names like George Washington, Samuel Adams, and John Hancock worked to turn a group of poorly trained, under equipped farmers, ranchers, and workers into the first American fighting force. There are a healthy debate on every issue, but when it was all done, they came together and acted as one group of American leaders.

If you have read about this time in our country, or viewed the numerous movies, and mini-series events related to this period, the one common thread is that none of these men wanted to be taking the actions they did, but became resolved that it was the only course of action that gave them a chance of a successful future for them, their children, and the generations of Americans to come after them. They knew if they did not act, the situation would only become more critical and all hope of freedom, of a bright future for the generations ahead would become a dim dream instead of a possible reality.

For me, each 4^th of July is a celebration that our founding fathers made the right choice. Every day I get up, get to work in a field I love, provide for my family, and can teach them the difference between what is right and what is just, I am just one of millions of examples that they were wise beyond their years. We celebrate the freedom many have bought for us, and we cherish the choices we are allowed to make of our own free will every day.

Freedom and why we should celebrate it!

2010-07-01T03:01:00.001-07:00

First, I know I have been lax the last few weeks, but slowly attempting to get back into the swing of things. Thank you for all the kind words, the support, and encouragement. Seems like every time I convince myself this show is a waste of time, you all pop up out of nowhere to remind me why I do it. Thank you for that.

This week I feel it is only right to reflect on why this holiday is so important to proudly celebrate Independence Day. I could give you the history of how we became such a great republic, or why millions had shed blood, and more gladly sacrificed their lives to defend our way of life, but you already know that.

For me, celebrating Independence Day is important because we live in a country where we each can choose to work in a field we love, in my case, over the past two decades, I have been in, on, and keeping radio stations on the air. As one of my best friends reminded me recently, I am lucky that I have been able to stay in radio, and be successful in so many aspects of this profession. Many of the people I look up to, and was lucky enough to be taken under their wing to be shown the ropes, have been forced to change careers, or just retire.

We live in a place where you can print a story about one of the highest ranking officers in our country, even if it is the truth, mouthing off about his boss, and live to make it onto the news cycle to talk about it. There are many places on this planet, you would be found dead with your tongue ripped out. There are others you would never be seen or heard from again.

We live in a place where we freely debate just about any topic, can speak our mind, debate the pros and cons of every issue, then agree to disagree without anyone getting beat up, injured or killed. The only possible exception is if you are crazy enough to do this drunk, high, or otherwise wasted, or debate a drunk, junkie, or addict while wasted.

We should all be proud that we live in a place where you can freely tell the government they are screwing up, tell them how we want it fixed, and we have a means to affect the course correction we asked for if not followed. This process has been used for decades to get us things some take for granted today, like civil rights, the right for women, slaves, and the everyday person to vote. The voting booth has power, and we have a right to exercise that power to get America on the correct path again. I predict this November, the last laugh will be on the people that made the choice to belittle, mock, tease, and attempt to dismiss the call for course correction that has been called the TEA PARTY MOVEMENT. It has become clear that the wrong choice was made by the people trying to dismiss this growing nationwide furor as a fluke, and instead of making it go away, it has only grown stronger with every Madcow utterance of "teabaggers" with that smug I am so smart you'll never get that smirk.

We all have reasons to celebrate this Sunday, and if you can't find one, I'll give you a couple of generic ones to tide you by. Celebrate this Sunday in honor of the veterans and active duty military that have bled, been disabled, and yes, gave their life do you can sit in that lounger, look up in the sky, and see those beautiful fireworks overhead this Sunday Night. Take time to be grateful that we are in this great country where we are free to speak our mind, live as we see fit, and work in the professions we choose. Finally, celebrate the fact you have a choice to be who you are, and the resources to help you be whoever you decide to become because you live here, in the United Sates of America.

God bless you, your family, and may your holiday be a great one. Hope you will join us either live Sunday on Blog Talk Radio, or catch the show on demand.

Joey

I've got to tell you

2010-06-03T11:57:00.001-07:00

First, some good news. Our oldest daughter is one week from graduating high school. It is mind blowing to realize it has been almost 18 years that she has been on this planet, and I still remember when she would fall asleep on my chest when she was a baby like it was yesterday. She had to do her final major project presentation for school today, and since it is about her band, Dear Audience, I am sure she dazzled them with her musical abilities.

The bad part is the more I want to forget what is happening in along the southern shorelines back home, but I can’t. Not because it is dominating the headlines, not because of the horrible images I continue to see on a daily basis, or even because I hear the people I work with constantly trashing the current administration for their lack of leadership in getting something done. My kids are even concerned about it now, so I am having to sit down with them and explain that the damage being done now can screw up the way of life for the family we have back home for generations to come. I don’t want people to forget about what’s happening down there, and more importantly, like most people from the that area, I want them to get it back to what it should be before they leave.

For me, this is just like Katrina. God had a purpose for me being out of the area. I took in my Godchild, we were able to allow him to have a somewhat normal routine for the couple of months that the area around New Orleans was patched up so they could do things like open schools, stores, hospitals, and churches again. I wanted desperately to go down and help. I had the training to help on several fronts, but we could not get things setup for me to take the time off to do it. Then my sister asked me to take her son while things got sorted out, which we were happy to do.

I guess this time, I am up here on the west coast, and all I can do is keep reminding everyone in any way I can that the spill is still happening. I can keep pushing with my blog, and my show for someone to grow a pair and take charge (seems LA Governor Bobby Jindal has become that person!), and stop waiting for a decision from the idiots hat don’t care about what’s happening and get to saving what can be saved before there is nothing left! We want the politics to stop, and the action to begin.

Saw some of Eric Asher from WIST-AM/New Orleans, LA on C-Span and I understand he was on MSNBC for a few too. Had some of the Executive Producers of the shows at work asking who he was since they hadn’t heard of him before. C-Span could have picked a better choice, but at least they gave the oil spill some coverage. Someone tell Eric the trick to TV is to look like you care what the guest is talking about, and next time, don’t check the blackberry while on camera doing an interview. Nice try, Bubba!

Taking the Weekend Off

2010-05-30T14:31:00.001-07:00

Decided to take the Memorial Day weekend off. We'll have a new show for you next Sunday June 6th. Enjoy your time off with your family.

Joey

5-23-10 Gulf Of Mexico Oil n WWL-AM Spill Update Monologue

2010-05-23T14:51:00.001-07:00

A little over a month ago we all awoke to find out that a horrible accident had happened on a rig many of us had no idea about 50 miles off the shore of Louisiana. We all were shocked at the loss of life, and wondered what was going to happen as the rig sank and the survivors of this tradegy made their way back home. The first thing that threw up red flags for me was that the company responsible was passing around liability waivers to the crew before they could get off the boat to be reunited with their families. Another red flag when they asked for volunteers to help with the cleanup, but once again, here come the fleet of lawyers and more attempts to curb the liability they were responsible for. Then as if on cue, the head of BP when asked if they were going to take financial responsibility by Senator Mary Landreiu, he without hesitation said "we will pay all legitimate claims". Who decides what is legitimate? Again, another measured, politically correct response. Now is not the time to be measured, or political, it is time to pull out all the stops, do anything, and everything available to cleanup what is out there now. Time to stop screwing around with all these half measures to attempt to recover the oil from the well and lame ideas to try to salvage BP's investment, and seal the well that is causing this.

I was going to move onto another topic for this week until I saw a report from Doug Mouton of WWL-TV in New Orleans. He was with Governor Bobby Jindal and Plaquemines Parish president Billy Nungesser as they toured the southern most part of the parish and found the first of the oil in the wetlands there. It turned my stomach to see an area where I fished as a kid so fouled and it made me angry that they had almost a month to prevent this but the powers in charge have sat on their ass and let it happen.

Now, let me clarify where my disdain is aimed. First, I focus a majority of my fury at the decision makers of BP, Transocean, and Haliburton. You see, with just the small amount of information that has become available thus far, when it is all said and done, the ultimate blame for the destruction of the eco systems and lives of the people of the coastal states affected will fall to the lack of foresight by these companies. BP refused to use the safety devices that would have stopped this in the early hours of the accident which are readily available, like the acoustical switch used all over the world except here, a blow out preventer with the power needed to actually work as it is supposed to when there is a problem, and not having a fleet of skimmer ships, fire booms, and the amount of protective barrier needed to contain this in the first days instead of still stumbling to make one right move almost 5 weeks after the fact. The fact is of they would have spent a few million on safety up front, they wouldn't be spending tens of billions now.

I mentioned last week, and linked it to my sites that BP had stated in a report done years ago about their safety precautions at the start of this project that they could handle a spill in the gulf ten times what they reported was happening now in the Gulf of Mexico. That number has changed this week, mainly because now that people can actually see the volume of oil, gas, and fluid coming out of the damaged riser due to the live streaming video feed from the ROVs at the scene. Seems some incredibly smart scientist have figured out a way to calculate the volume of the items spewing from that pipe just by taking measurements from said video. With actual facts in front of them, BP had to come clean and say "it may be worse than we reported". Well, Duh.

Another report stated that BP admits that they have over 10 thousand submissions from people wanting to help with various ideas to help clean up the oil spill now. I saw an article that stated a design from actor Kevin Costner was "tested" by BP officials last week and may be in operation in a few weeks. Time for testing guy was 5 weeks ago. Screw testing! BP, get off your asses and take some action. 10 thousand submissions? Good, pay for every one of them that have a working prototype to get to the gulf NOW! Wild guess you will end up with a couple thousand teams with different options out there. BP, give them the money and crew they need to operate their inventions full scale for one week.Take the people that are actually making progress (picking up the oil) at the end of the week, give them the resources they need to continue operating and make more of the working devices, and keep doing that until ALL THE OIL is GONE! The time to sit behind lawyers, haggle, hope the feds take over so you can leave them with the check when this is over!

This is past the point of discussion. It disgusts me that the Corps of Engineers has sat on requests by coastal governments in the gulf to be allowed to protect their shores by being allow to dredge and create manmade barrier islands to stop the oil from getting inland. In some cases, these requests have been on the desks of these people for 3 to 4 weeks. No response. No suggestions. Nothing. \

Put yourself in the shoes of the people down there. You know what you can do to make sure this is headed off before it can destroy everything you know and love. You attempt to go through the proper channels to get the proper permissions to do it legally weeks before any damage is done to the coast. You are trying to protect your home, the environment that supplies your culture with beauty, food, and a livelihood. A few days after you make the request, you find out the oil is 30 miles from shore, you ask them to expedite the process so you can put the protection in place now. A week goes by, God is on your side the weather slows the toxic soup of oil, it is still twenty miles from shore, all your friends are willing to give you time, equipment, and most importantly support to get this done, so you beg the corps to say OK, and they come back with, we'll have to think about it. Another week goes by, your friend and neighbors are irate because the oil is creeping ever closer, but again, the people that have to give the go ahead at the corps say you have to wait for permission. I could keep going, but this has been going on for almost 5 weeks, and the oil has made it to the shore, it is in the marshes, the damage we could have stopped is done, and the corps is still thinking.

I am not only a Louisiana native, but I am from a coastal parish. I was born in Terrebonne Parish, where Brunella is from, and grew up on the banks of Bayou Lafourche in Raceland, LA. I spent several summers as a kid living a trapper's existence in our camp on Lake Fields. We had crab traps, catfish boxes, and trout lines we fished every day during those summers. We lived on seafood. I learned to hunt and fish in those swamps, and always hoped to be able to one day take my boys down there to teach them like my dad taught me. Because of the inaction over the last few weeks, I may not have the chance. If my kids are lucky, they have a chance to teach their grandkids if the system can ever be recovered.

One of the men I grew up watching on the local news in New Orleans did one hell of a great monologue about this situation on WWL Radio. His name is Garland Robinette. The video of this monologue is up at WWL.com and I invite you to go check it out. He gets into another aspect of the frustration and anger that is building from the lack of action from the people in charge, the federal government's lack of leadership to stop this before it got out of hand, and what he feels is the reason for the lack of a solution to this problem. His passion and fire in his monologue gave me the motivation to discuss this again for the third time in less than a month. I am only a small cog in the big machine, but this is what I can do to keep this story in the public domain.

I had a chance to have a discussion this week with the man I credit with being my inspiration to become a broadcaster, my 2nd cousin, and Louisiana radio legend, The Real Robert Mitchell. He does work on WWL Radio these days, and he has been on the ground down there since this all started. As Garland so poignantly explained in his monologue, Bob told me of how frustrated the state and local government officials are that no one seems to be willing or able to take a lead here. He told me how citizens back home are so fed up they are threatening to comendere equipment and just get it done themselves, and they feel if they get arrested someone will quickly replace them. I understand the frustration, and I hope the people that need to fix this put that energy to work now.

There is no "General Honere" for this disaster, yet. I don't think we have time to wait for the oil spill version to show up either. As we discussed the situation, I likened this situation to going with a big group of friends to eat out, and everyone trying to find an excuse to leave the table when it is time for the check to arrive. BP is trying to cut corners where ever possible. The feds don't want to get caught with the bill if they intervene, and the state and local governments are too strapped to do it themselves. Someone needs to grow a pair, get the reigns of this runaway stagecoach, and save the day before the damage caused is irreversible. The point of no return if quickly approaching.

The End Of An Era

2010-05-19T16:50:00.001-07:00

Well, no matter how much I don't want to face it, tonight is the End of An Era in my life. Tonight, our oldest daughter is going to be performing her last choir concert as a high school student. She will most likely be performing again at graduation in a few weeks, but this is the last official concert she will still be a high school student.

I am so proud of her. She is becoming an intelligent, well rounded, and most importantly independent young woman. She is the first of our 5 to get out of high school, and her little sister is going to quickly hit this same mark in two years. In a very short time I will go from having 5 children, to being the parent of two young women and three kids.

I never believed my friends when they told me time would fly once I got married and had kids, but it has. I had my goals and benchmarks I wanted to hit by now, and they have all passed with me always telling myself I would get around to them. I don't regret my choices, but I do know that I did the best I could with what I was allowed to have.

I look forward to watching her get her diploma in three weeks, but more importantly I await the road ahead. Like every parent I hope she is spared the mistakes I made in my life, but I will do what I can to make sure she has what she needs to make her own choices. Make sure you take the time to enjoy your kids. Before you know it, they are all grown up and you are both too busy.

2010-05-16T11:55:00.001-07:00

Too many little topics going on this week to just cover 1, so we'll talk about them all. 3PM PDT /6PM EDT http://blogtalkradio.com/radiojs

The Truth in Real Time

2010-05-13T18:29:00.001-07:00

I have been debating all day about if I should say something or not, and this means that I won the debate I think. Before I get into this, I am still taking suggestions for a topic for this week. I am not liking what I am seeing from Obama's nominee for the Supreme Court, but I think that will be a few minutes of the Monologue instead of the whole show.

Also, I am working with a couple of good friends that are experts in health and nutrition to fufill a request to do a show on food allergies/Food Additives/Healthy Living and we will announce the date for that show soon. Since I am not an expert on this topic, I am making sure I can bring on one or two that I trust.

Now, I was laying down watching TV last night when I scanned past Real Time with Bill Maher. Ten years ago, maybe a little longer I used to think Politically Incorrect was a funny show. I have had old bosses, friends, and even a couple of people I work with actually be on the panel of his old show. I don't think any of them would be invited onto this version of the show, because none of them would be able to keep their mouth shut while Mr. Maher talks about how stupid tea baggers are, or possibly how America should be off the "oil tit" as he calls it.

My bone, and for some reason I can't seem to move from this topic of immigration reform, is his monologue he did towards the end of his broadcast this past week. Mr. Maher in this ripoff of a cross between the two lowest rated presenters on MSNBC (Rachel Madcow, and Kieth Oberdone), he takes the position that Americans shouldn't be pissed off at the "poor servants" here trying to live the American Dream. We should be happy they are here to do the work none of us have the time or the will to do. We shouldn't fault them for wanting to be here.

Well, Bill, we're not! We're upset about the subculture that has been created by people coming here illegally, living in the USA undocumented, getting paid cash under the table because they don't pay taxes, using up medical and other benefits of the states without contributing to the funding of then, being exploited by employers that pay them half what they would have to pay if they were legit, that do the jobs Americans would be happy to do if the scumbag afore mentioned would pay them as he is supposed to per government regulation. I personally have nothing against people wanting to come here, but as I have said before, they need to follow the process and do it legally. I know the mindless drones clapped at your comments, and think that using stupid slang like tea baggers is cool, but let me let you in on a little secret. The majority of us out here in the real world think you are an annoying, smart ass, and most of the time ill informed clown. You used the same information about property crime that had been completely dismissed by a man who knows, Sheriff Joe from Phoenix on MSNBC almost a week before you used it. Oh, he's the guy that is the boss of the guys that make the arrests and writes the reports your information was based on. Oh, wait, you and the idiots at MSNBC used "state wide" information, because if you take just the border where the problem is. . . Yeah, we caught that one too!

And Bill, let me clear something up for you. Kumar got a White House gig because he's young, he's hip, and people like him. Sorry, but you strike out on all three. Maybe Obama can give you, Madcow, and Oberdone an honorary position in the white house press office. It's like you all work from there already. If you didn't see it, he mentioned he could accept a cabinet position because he has only hired legal hispanic housekeepers. So funny I almost fell asleep.

I don't like to get like this, but Maher has been on my last nerve for some time. He has a right to speak his mind, but then again, so do I.

Amazing what a little research can get you.

2010-05-12T12:29:00.001-07:00

I was forwarded an e-mail by a friend that spoke about immigration reform and I thought it was a decent e-mail that touched on several of the same points I discussed on my show this past Sunday. But, like with most of the stuff I do, I did a quick internet search for the author of this letter, and found a controversy that has been circulating worldwide since 2006 on this issue.

The e-mail states that Rosemary LaBonte sent a letter to the editor of the Orange County Register which they refused to publish, so her husband sent it out and essentially started an immigration reform chain e-mail. The fun part of this is that when you do some searching, you can find people dissecting this letter almost word by word in order to paint this lady as a racist, someone who has no clue, and of course as ignorant because she actually made good points.

The e-mail I got was slightly edited from the original, which had date references to 2006. Any good chain e-mail has to seem fresh, so the dates had to go. So instead of publishing the e-mail itself, which is legit, I will instead give you some links to the relevant information. The only point I want to make here is that the current tactic used when someone disagree with the left's agenda is not new, it has been used and refined over the years. More proof that if they are take the time to belittle something, call the people involved racist, ignorant, or hate mongers, and make fun of them, they don't know how to debate on the facts and are scared of it.

This kind of tactic has worked before, and until they are shown a majority of us see right past the thinly veiled smoke screen, they will continue to try it.

Here are the links for you to see what I am talking about.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/immigration/newimmigrants.asp

http://radioactv915.wordpress.com/2006/07/23/rosemary-labontes-letter-to-the-editor-makes-the-rounds/

http://lighthousepatriotjournal.wordpress.com/2006/09/10/myth-blaster-letter-to-the-orange-country-register/

http://trailerparkjokes.com/blog/politics/rosemary-labonte-stand-on-imigration/

http://orangepunch.freedomblogging.com/2008/05/27/the-gullible-mr-graves/

2010-05-12T11:53:00.001-07:00

I was forwarded a moving letter about immigration reform. Give me a few to check it to make sure it's legit, then I'll post it.

Rainy Days and Mondays. . . .

2010-05-10T20:22:00.001-07:00

I remember as a kid my mom had that Carpenter's album on 8 track (I know, showing my age. For you youngsters, an 8 track is what your grand parents used to play music in their car before CD's.) in her collection. She always seemed to pull it out and play it when it started raining on Mondays. I guess she is the reason I have a knack for finding just the right song for the situation.

I heard earlier that Lena Horn passed away at 92. One of the good parts of working here, the news is fresh every hour! I remember her on The Cosby Show back in the mid 80's. I know some of her music, but I remember more of her from what others have said, and the little bit of TV she has done.

I am not going to comment just yet, because I have not been able to research her yet, but I have heard what some of the big guns have contributed about Obama's nominee to the Supreme Court. I will research on my own, then either I will talk about her nomination later this week, or maybe during my monologue this Sunday. It all depends on how frustrated I get at how bad this choice really is once I am educated on it.

Got a couple of hours of work left tonight. I took a late lunch because I have to play hall monitor while the hall monitors go to lunch. Have a great evening, and stay dry.

Last Night's Show

2010-05-10T15:07:00.001-07:00

Want to thank everyone for making the extra effort to participate in the
show last night. I found out after the show that the first 22 minutes or so
sounded warped do to bandwidth issues and a bad Skype connection. I feel
this is due to my ISP, so I am now in the process of moving to another one
to get added stability. I will also be taking steps to test my connection
before the show to make sure this doesn't happen again.

With all that said, it was a fun show to do. It was nice to have some
interaction during the show via e-mail, the BTR chat room, and my friends
via IMs. It helps me stay on track when I have instant feedback from the
listeners.

What would you like for me to talk about on next week's show? What is the
topic that keeps coming up when you and your friends talk? Send me an
e-mail, leave a comment, or drop by my website http://www.thelwk.com and
tell me your ideas.

Joey

TONIGHT's SHOW RESCHEDULED

2010-05-09T18:23:00.000-07:00

I have rescheduled my show for 8PM PDT tonight. My ISP crashed about 10 minutes to air tonight and I have been promised this issue has been resolved. Please join me tonight at 8PM PDT at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/radiojs for our show on immigration. You can be a part of the show by e-mailing me your thoughts before the show to joey@thelwk.com or calling into the show at (646) 595-3426 tonight.

Joey

Quick Note From Joey

2010-05-09T17:31:00.001-07:00

Sorry all, unforeseen circumstances has forced me not to be able to broadcast tonight. We may reschedule for later tonight if possible. -Joey

Show #8 - IMMIGRATION MONOLOGUE

2010-05-09T13:30:00.001-07:00

Joey Sanders Show – 3PM PDT/6PM EDT – http://www.blogtalkradio.com/radiojs

This has been a very busy week for me. Our youngest daughter, Evangelia, Lia as she is known, celebrated her first communion at our church yesterday. It was a nice service and we had 32 kids in this year’s class. About 10 minutes into the mass, Gabe started acting up, so I had to take him out of the church. Our pastor expects us to lead by example since we are catechist, so since he specifically asked parents with disruptive children to go into the vestibule, I felt I needed to take Gabe outside. We walked around the outside of church until the end of the mass. He’s 2 years old, so sitting down and behaving during a church service, even if it is a celebration for his big sister just wasn’t going to happen. We all got to enjoy a small reception in the church hall, and I got to see Lia receive her first communion thanks to Nell recording the moment on her cell phone.

Marayna has been working all week with either the performances of practices for her high school’s production of “South Pacific”. I haven’t been able to see the show yet, but hope to do so soon. She and the entire cast and crew have worked tirelessly to make this musical a great performance.

Logan and I had the opportunity to watch the first blockbuster movie of the summer season Friday Night, and Marayna got to watch it a little later in the evening with her friends after their performance. I enjoyed the movie, and the kids tell me they did too. Just a touch of blue humor, very fast pace movie for the most part, and what I expected for the caliber of talent involved with the acting, directing, and producing of this comic book brought to live action.

I talked a little earlier this week on the HBO Movie “You Don’t Know Jack” which started playing this week. It was a well done movie. I always like Al Pachino, even in this role. He does a good job of making Kevorkian someone you can root for. I know it’s based on true events, but again, no matter how much they show the suffering of others and make him out to be a sympathetic hero of the dying, it didn’t make me change my view on the “right to die” as they refer to it in the movie. You can read more on this on my blog from earlier this week on this topic.

I guess I am a little weird when I watch a movie, because I leave reality at the door. A movie has never changed the way I think about life. It has never changed my political outlook. I don’t allow it to consume my life. I take it for what I would hope everyone does, a small, entertaining, momentary escape. Actors, directors, and producers may attempt to promote their agenda, or their political viewpoints on the screen, but I am unwilling to allow them the chance to change my thought process or the way I do things because they showed how rough life is on the big screen. Movies are meant to entertain, not enlighten. It doesn’t upset when this happens, and it does more than you would like to think, but instead it disappoints me that these people are so caught up in the fantasy that they start to believe their own hype. If you want to be a politician, and change the world, take the pay cut and seek office like Gopher, The Terminator, and other actors that have paved the way for you to affect the real change you seek. Using your stardom to “speak on a topic” usually gets you in trouble, or laughed at by people that really know about the topics you claim to be passionate about.

After asking you what you wanted me to cover this week, the majority of you wanted me to cover the fallout from the Arizona Immigration Law that was recently passed. I’ve got several different parts of this I will touch on tonight. First, we’ll talk about how the local basketball franchise in Phoenix decided to show they support people breaking the law during their playoff appearance this week. We’ll also talk about the protests that have popped up all over the country in the weeks since the law was passed. We’ll talk about the cinco de mayo incident in Texas. Finally, we will talk about the newest effort to get immigration reform passed through congress. If you don’t know, a revised proposal is being floated around the hallways in Washington, and thanks to some great work by ABC News, I have a copy of that proposal which we will review. You can look it over by clicking on the link to it on my facebook page. Of course, I want to hear from you. Did Arizona take things too far as the resident and others have repeatedly said? Is it wrong for Arizona voters to want the federal laws on the books to be enforced for once? Is the answer to make everyone that is currently in this country illegally citizens, or would that just open the floodgates and make the problem worse? Call me and tell me your thoughts tonight at six four six, five nine five, thirty-four, twenty-six. If you are listening on demand, drop me an e-mail at joey@thelwk.com anytime. I love to get your point of view.

I’ve talked about my feelings on immigration again, but let me go over this one more time for the cheap seats. I strongly believe any immigration reform that allows the people already here illegally to pay a fine, go through a process, or eventually become a legal citizen without some type of stiff penalty is a bad idea. I think it will set a precedent that will give other people wanting to immigrate to the USA motivation to get here however they can, because if we make this exception once, if they bring 3 or 4 times more people into the country illegally, we’ll have to do it again, right? It has always been my belief that if you want to immigrate to the USA you need to do it legally. Follow the process, wait your turn, and then you, like the rest of us become a law abiding citizen.

Another thing that has always gotten to me, you need to learn to speak, read, and write English if you are going to be a part of this republic. We waste millions of dollars a year having things not only in Spanish, but the 15 to 20 other languages they publish information in on the federal, state, and local level. Think of the money saved if instead of doubling up courses and events in multiple languages, if instead taught them to speak English, and then they became part of the larger group. I know this is not the politically correct thing to say, but in my mind, it is what should be said.

Being a Cajun, I know about wanting to protect and preserve your heritage and history. Back home, we all love our music, our food, and our Cajun culture. However, our grandparents had to learn English, since most of the only spoke Cajun French when they began school. They had to become part of the American society, and the people wanting to come here to live the American Dream need to become American, not just be here for work.

When we come back from the break we’ll start with the fallout nationally since Arizona passed this law a few weeks ago. Later this hour we’ll move to the Cinco de Mayo incident with the students in Texas, and finally we’ll review the new immigration reform proposal being floated through congress. Join in tonight, the number for you to call to be part of the show is six four six, five nine five, thirty-four twenty-six. The Joey Sanders Show continues on Blog Talk Radio.

Just another week in my life.

2010-05-08T17:52:00.001-07:00

We have had a busy week, with Brunella starting her new job, Lia's first communion today, and Marayna is performing in her school's production of "South Pacific". Work is always hectic. Seem to never have enough time for the kids, but Logan and I had a "guys night out" Friday Night watching Ironman 2. Logan and I both enjoyed it, and I do not understand the critics saying their are too many story lines in this picture. Either they are slow or I am, but I usually like the stuff the critics hate anyway.

This week I have also seemed to been sought out by book authors. I mentioned one last week in my show's monologue, in passing, amazingly she found my show on Blog Talk Radio, and has sent me a copy of her book for my review. An old co-worker of mine has a relative that has a new book, and I am looking forward to getting his book. I also have an old classmate that has been recently published, and I am in the process of reading his book right now. I plan to invite them all on the air once I have a chance to review their work, and can ask coherient questions about their work.

I invite any authors or "experts" that want to come on the show to let me know. I would welcome them, and will do my best to keep up with what you are talking about. I am human, so as long as you promise to be kind if I don't get it, we will be just fine.

I will be putting the monologue for tomorrow's show about Immigration together after I eat dinner tonight. I want to get everything prepped before tomorrow, so I am just tweaking things in the hours before the show. I hate feeling rushed, and getting it written tonight, allows me to pick it apart a few times before the show.

As always, please forward me your comments, questions, suggestions, or complaints to joey@thelwk.com anytime. Please join me tomorrow afternoon 3PM PDT/6PM EDT for The Joey Sanders Show at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/radiojs and of course if you miss the live show, you can catch it on demand anytime starting an hour after the show.

2010-05-08T17:01:00.001-07:00

Show #8 monologue will be added shortly, tune in Sun. Night 3p PDT http://www.blogtalkradio.com/radiojs

It May Be LEGAL, but is it RIGHT?

2009-04-01T23:16:00.000-07:00

I have a delima that comes to me from time to time. One of my mentors, and someone I look up to in the radio business told me a long time ago, "Never burn a Bridge unless you have to. You never know when you may have to walk back across it someday." I use that not just in my professional life, but in my personal one as well.

This philosophy has allowed me to remain friends with just about all my former co-workers, mend the relationship I screwed up the most in my teens, and have the ability to work just about anywhere I have worked before. To my knowledge, only one or two people despise me, and one belongs in a nut ward, and the other tried to get me put in one, but belongs there as well.

My issue today is I have a friend going through a really rough time. Someone extremely close to her (soon to be ex) has hurt her in a way that no one should ever have to endure. Now, she has to part ways with this person.

The first instinct in this situation is to be spiteful and vengeful, inflict as much emotional damage as possible. She has asked my advice, and I told her she needs to be smart, protect herself as much as possible, but to also remember that since they shared part of their lives together (they were married), that she should also do her best to be fair and diplomatic. She may one day wish she had been more logical than emotional in her actions now. Her focus has been more about making sure she gets hers, and less on how things will be a month, or even a year down the road.

Don't get me wrong, I understand where she is coming from. I am by no means saying she should be a doormat. I however know you can protect your well being without trying to run your soon to be ex through the ringer in the process. It may look like fun now, but I have too many friends, several of them reading this shaking their head knowing we've talked about the regret caused by getting the short term satisfaction of being spiteful during this difficult time.

My friend has pulled a "legal" maneuver that she thinks protects her, but accomplished this by less than stellar means. In a court of law, with a smart attorney, it will get thrown out because of how it was obtained, and it will make her look deceitful to the judge, which could come back to bite her. I attempted to warn her of this, only to get told she asked (put the laundry list of people here) and they all applauded her for her initiative in getting this protection. In fact, she told me by saying "You know that (protection) you said was illegal, well I asked (laundry list of non-legal people) and they said it is too legal (SO THERE!)." I abruptly ended the IM conversation with, well good luck with that, and shut down my IM.

I ended it because there is no talking to someone who has twisted the deed(s) they have accomplished as justified. It doesn't matter if it was done by twisting an arm, or holding a ransom, or even more dastardly means. As long as they feel it is needed, they will not listen to logic or reason. My task was done. I tried to explain the long term consequences of the short term gain before she took action, but she had already talked herself in "I must do this" no matter the costs.

The point I make here is, in any relationship, you should always attempt to keep the channels of communication open. Just because you can do something to someone, doesn't mean you should. It doesn't matter how much this person hurt you, you should not sink to their level by attempting to "get them" in any form or fashion, no matter how much you think it will make you feel better now. The short term high from "the kill" will give you years of torture, waking in a cold sweat regretting the hell you raised.

I know from personal experience. I know from the long nights of sitting up with several friends as they went through the "I shouldn't have been such an ass phase" later in life. I know because I have had people come to me asking for my forgiveness because they (insert the pain here).

Now that I have that Dr. Phil moment out of the way, thanks for reading.

Doing a Special Post Wrestlemania 25 In Your Corner with Big Daddy this Sunday. Join us at 11PM EDT/8PM PDT for all the fun. Suppose to have a few old friends call in to say hi. Hoping to have a few of my wrestling friends lend their minds to the show. You can catch the show at: http://blogtalkradio.com/in-your-corner.

The Swami Strikes Again

2009-03-25T21:47:00.000-07:00

Every once in a blue moon, something will happen in the radio business, and my friends that still work in radio will ask for my insight into what is about to happen. This happens more when it is on a national level, but this week, one of the local stations here started stunting (in this case, all Christmas Music). The question was, what format do you think they will go to, and why?

Looking at the most successful stations in the area, and the other stations already here, I explained I thought they would go with a Hot Adult Contemporary format. I also said for it to be successful they would have to keep the drive time programming local and live, they would need to have an extremely focused music library, and they would have to position the station with something that would get people's attention, not just the cookie cutter "Today's Hits, and Yesterday's Favorites" type of dribble.

They flipped the station to "The New Mix 93, the station with MY Mix of Music" this morning. The same lame hosts, in some cases screwing up and calling the station by the old name, and I think some of that was voice tracked!!

The music is typical for programmers not used to real competition. "We're a mix station, so we should play stuff people don't usually hear!" I can hear the committee programming this station in my head like the nagging of a 90 year old off their meds. You gain audience by playing music people know and love, not an album cut off an obscure album that didn't have one song break the Top 100, much less a number 10, and most certainly not a number 1.

I am going to restrain myself here. Instead of going off on a tirade on cookie cutter formats, management cutting past the point of having the ability to produce a viable, creative radio, or about how all the people that are needed have left the business, I will change the subject.

I found out today that my hometown radio station has been sold to a religious company, and will be gutted and turned into a christian teaching ministry station. It is the station I first got on as a kid. I used to call the morning guy every morning and tell him cheeky jokes I would find in books from the library. I went home in 2004 as that station's program director and I put all my energy and focus into making it a great station again until they pulled the rug out from under us. I am saddened that my hometown loses this part of the community, but I know it is all a part of the cycle that radio is in now.

On the bright side, after 10 years as an engineer, I can still predict how things work in radio.

Drop me a line anytime: bigdaddy@ccwinteractive.com

I could spend hours going off on why this will be another station that will flip format in a year of so.

My How Times Have Changed

2009-03-24T23:49:00.000-07:00

I am sitting here trying to stay awake at almost midnight. I will stay awake until the live show in the studios is wrapped at 1AM. We had a couple of issues at work, and since Murphy is my friend, I know if I go to sleep something else will blow sky high.

I heard something on the way home after work tonight that really made me laugh. Sitting in line at the Seven 11 waiting to buy my liter of diet, and the two young women in front of me checking out were bitching that Obama's press conference was screwing up their favorite show. When I got home, I found out it also took out Idol and a few other shows.

It made me laugh because they got into a car with two bumper stickers on the back. Obama08 on one side and BUSH's LAST DAY on the other. They put him in office but now they are so concerned with what's going on that a show like American Idol is more important? It just boggles my mind.

I know I am showing my age, but I remember when there was only broadcast TV available in my hometown. The three majors; ABC, CBS, and NBC, two PBS channels, and one independent that ran wrestling and movies. When the President gave an address or news conference, everything stopped. Everyone ran it, and my dad could not be pulled from the set. He expected us to sit quietly, watch, and understand the importance of what was happening.

I don't know if you caught it, but trend used to be until this past January that unless it was a major address, only the news channels carried it. It has been that way for the past two presidents, as far as I can remember. I point this out to remind you that the way this president is covered is so much more complete that ever before. Every move, every speech, every comment, and it is all out there for everyone.

This extreme scrutiny is a double edged sword. Some would say it makes things transparent. That may be true, but it puts the person in an impossible situation. No matter how much the media loves this president, they will turn on him. It is just a matter of time.

Now the conservative media has already started to attempt to pick Obama apart, and anyone surprised by that should not be allow to drive a car, or operate heavy machines. Fact is, in some instances I agree with their assessments. It does seem like Obama is a little lost. It does seem like the job has really taken a toll on him. It seems he is following a liberal agenda. If you are surprised, again, please don't drive in my neighborhood.

I don't care your political affiliation, nor do I care if you like Obama or not. I remember when both Bush presidents first got in office. I remember when Clinton first got in office. All three had a few things in common with this president when they first took office. I remember the complaints that they all seemed a little lost. I remember the bitching about how they had an (insert political affiliation) agenda they were following. I remember watching all of them quickly age from the stress involved in being the leader of the free world.

Am I saying give change a chance? No, we need to watch everything going on and all different view points need to be expressed. Debate is a great thing. Bitching just to bitch does nothing productive. The goal needs to be a defined focused plan to move the economy, and more importantly, the country ahead quickly.

I hope everyone in Washington wakes up quickly and realizes most of us out here don't want to hear bickering, backstabbing, finger pointing, or posturing. I want answers. I want action. I want a solution. I predict if that doesn't happen, we will see the biggest house cleaning in congressional history during the next election.

I don't know about you, but hearing about what was inherited or what they were left with only pisses me off. You knew when you spent two years running for office that the economy was in trouble. You knew that you had a mess to clean up. You said you could make the change needed to correct and reverse the bad decisions, so stop making excuses and get to work!

Let me know what you think. Drop me a line at bigdaddy@ccwinteractive.com

In Your Corner on My Terms

2009-03-24T23:31:00.000-07:00

For those of you that don't know, late last year I started a show on Blog Talk Radio. Being that one of my passions is wrestling, I kept the focus mostly on that, but did a little politics, and added bits I liked too. I did it through the holidays, and after my mom didn't make it here as planned, I kinda hung it up.

Truth is, having my mom cancel her plans at the last moment did put me in a depression. She is by no means the cause of me deciding to stop for at least a little while. I knew going in that to put together the one hour show I was doing, it was going to take at least 2 hours of prep to feel like I had the material needed for each show. I listened to the shows, and felt I was still stumbling too much and kept beating myself up for it.

The other part of this is I feel I need to change the focus of what I was doing. I need to talk about the things I want to talk about, and cover what makes me want to grab a microphone. So, I may wait another week or so and then I am going to start doing my show again.

This time I do what I want. This time I don't settle. From now on I don't try to please anyone but me. I know it sounds selfish, but I have taken the back seat, settled, and done it everyone else's way for way too long. It may only be a stupid Internet podcast that no one listens to, but it will be MY PODCAST.

Thanks for reading. Got a comment, send it to me at: bigdaddy@ccwinteractive.com but don't be surprised if I post it.

The State of Radio

2009-03-19T22:38:00.000-07:00

One of my best friends and I have been having an e-mail discussion about the state of the radio industry. The e-mails have been flying back and forth for about two weeks now. It's been a lively discussion, but way to many four letter words about too many specific people to post here.

Robert and I have known each other for the past 16 years. We have worked some of the same companies, and even teamed up for what I thought was some of the best performances I have ever been allowed to be a part of.

I will try to summarize here a few of the points we both agree on:

Consolidation killed radio years ago. When companies like Clear Channel, Cumulus, Citadel, et al were allowed to come in a just repackage the same programming in a different logo across the country they took the soul that made radio special away. When the big companies came in and were allowed to undercut the competition (mom and pop owners) with dollar a holler and using voice tracking to cut costs, they ripped the guts out of all stations. Mom and pop had to turn to satellite or automation to make ends meet.
There are too many choices out there. When you can pop up any news organization you want on your phone for the latest news, weather, or even music, radio now is in a bigger fight than ever to stay relevant in today's plugged in society. When you add that to skeleton staff, the lack of true personality in today's radio, and it's not hard to see why radio is becoming a secondary, or last resort entertainment choice for many.

I could keep going but those two alone give you the core of where our conversation went. Radio, both personality driven talk, and the music formatted stations out there can become dominant again. They have to stop using the same lame formats and thinking. Evolve radio to match the interactive reality. That is step one, and without it, the rest won't matter.

The other part of the equation is to work to develop real talent, and give them to tools, respect, and leeway to develop the cutting edge programming that will bring today's listeners back to radio. 10 in a row, 20 in a row, even 100 in a row won't cut it anymore. Look at the stuff people go to in droves online. It is all personality driven, not music driven.

Managers have ignored, ridiculed, and even destroyed the people they need the most right now. The guys that can make what is needed left radio because too many corporate programmers wanted all their stations to be exactly the same. This edict left all the creative, talented, and progressive guys that could mould stations into legendary powerhouses out of the loop. They chose to walk away from the business they all loved so much instead of curse themselves for destroying their work with a cookie cutter.

Radio can evolve and survive. I hope to watch it do so soon.

Crisis Management

2009-03-11T12:40:00.000-07:00

I've sat and quietly watched since Janurary 20th with amazement at how the new President is working on so many different fronts all at the same time. With the 17 (so far) executive orders, "summit" after "summit" on issue after issue at the White House, and more press conferences than the Sham Wow guy has infomercial time, it is an understatement to say that President Obama has his hands full right now.

The thing that concerns me is we have a crisis on our hands. It's not just affecting the USA, but the entire world. Instead of taking the bull by the horns and facing this head on, giving this financial crisis the full undivided attention it deserves, it is only one of several items being taken on by the White House right now. Let's see, Stem Cell Research, Education, Health care reform, political (pork barrel/ear mark) reform, and RUSH LIMBAUGH (?) all seem to get the same attention as the one item that should be front and center.

Reminds me of the plate spinner at the circus. If you put a dozen or so plates all spinning on the sticks at once, it may seem OK to let one or two fall off and break in a million pieces. I mean, c'mon, the guy had 11 (or was that 10) plates all spinning on sticks at once! Give the man a round of applause!

All of the other stuff being thrown up there are programs that can't be funded if we don't stop the hemorrhaging of the economy. It is disturbing to see company after company cut pay across the board by 10 to 20%, or lay off up to 20% of the workforce, or bite the bullet and just go out of business. The more people out of work, means more people that can't pay mortgages, and more people that are needing government assistance.

You are the leader of the free world, Mr. President. You may want to tell Carville and the rest of the guys whispering in your ear to shut the hell up for moment so you can think. If you don't get the financial crisis turned around in quick order, you will reach a point of no return. Once there, the America we all know and love will never be the same. Some say we have already reached that point, but it seems to me that we have a very limited time before we get there.

Did anyone else catch the article from the New York Times (on drudgereport.com) about the banks wanting to give the money they got from the government back? It isn't because they have found the miracle cure to the issues that caused them to ask for the money in the first place. No, it's because the government is turning around and attaching more and more strings to the "free money" now that there has been public outcry about how the money was being used. Now, the government wants the banks that took money to stop foreclosures and restructure the mortgages. Wait, wasn't that what congress said they wanted the money to be used for when they passed this so called "stimulus" bill? So, let's see if I get this straight, you take the money because it is there, knowing that it is suppose to be used to stop the foreclosures and allow you to restructure mortgages, then want to give it back when the government says you actually do it? Have I got that one right?

The only focus of the White House right now needs to be getting the economy turned around. All this other smoke and mirrors stuff will make for something for the news cycle, but doesn't give this crisis the attention is needs. You can put band aid fixes together only so long before the fixable issues become insurmountable obstacles because no one was willing to step up and face the music. It doesn't matter who started it, or what was inherited, the only thing important now is that the crisis is contained, and the economy turned around before it can not be corrected.

Where, Oh Where Do I Begin??

2009-03-10T19:29:00.000-07:00

There is just so many juicy pieces to work on here, so this first one is going to be a doosey! I'll just stick to the national stuff for now. So let's see, who should I start with?

Nancy Grace - Why is this crazy ass woman still allowed to be on TV? This woman has badgered a person to the point where they killed themselves, and she didn't even feel one bit of remorse for her actions. Now, if by some strange, weird, twisted bit of fate Casey Anthony gets a mistrial, it will be because this bitch has a "fan" in the Sheriff's office in FL that keeps leaking the information. I know that a host has to be opinionated, but this woman is the only one out there that makes Gloria Allred seem NORMAL! Nancy, leave this case alone, move on, get a life, get laid, DO SOMETHING ELSE!

Octo-Weirdness - Brunella and I were watching the TV the other night when I started flipping through the channels and we started talking about this after my flipping through Jon and Kate plus 8, Little People Big World, and (can never remember the title) The Duggar Family's show. This woman isn't nuts, she thought that she would get PAID like all those other people did. You ever notice that these family's might give up privacy, but they all are spending the money they make off their show royalties and (thank you Mel Brooks) MERCHANDISING on the show. Jon and Kate moved to a bigger house, the Roloff's doubled the size of their house, and the Duggar's bought a new tour bus (OK, it's just a BIG VAN, but hell, it looks like a damn bus!) for the family. These people get PAID to open their lives to the cameras, and the smart one's have developed websites, merchandise, and even tours to maximize the cash income while they have their 15 minutes. Getting this type of show produced is MUCH CHEAPER than a sitcom (remember the 2MIL an episode per cast member for FRIENDS??). OctoMom just figured some sucker (oops! I mean producer) would come in and want to make her life a reality show. Then she figured that just like every other mom that has Octos, the "community" would open their hearts with free diapers, free care, and maybe a new house or van like has happened over and over again. Just google for octuplets if you don't believe me. This woman figured everyone would hand her everything she needed. I guess she didn't notice how jaded everyone has become over the past decade or so. I read she will be getting free "home care assistance" so not everyone is completely jaded yet. I personally think that she should not have been allowed to do this. I think it is wrong to bring kids into the world without a way to care for them. I struggle with the 5 we have, and always feel like I never give them enough of my time, or even the material things they always tell me they could care less about.

Fairness Doctrine - One of my favorite talk show hosts talks constantly these days about how we are slowly being turned into a dictatorship, and I have to agree. I've heard quite a few of my friends talk at length about this, and my take on it is just a little different. I think that if that want to bring back the fairness doctrine, it should be fair to all forms of media. You see, if they want to give equal time to liberal and Conservative view points on the radio, then that should work great for television, newspapers, and even American based blogs on the Internet. Now, the argument will be, "well the only one that is so Conservative is radio". OK, you got me, TRUE. But, television is completely stacked with liberal hosts that are even further left than radio is stacked to the right. So, if we have to make room for liberal shows on radio, then we should see an equal amount of slots open up on TV. I know quite a few hosts that would love to have a TV slot (in some cases again) to be able to counteract the crap spewed by Maddow, Oberman, Mathews, Cooper, etc. nightly. Oh, anyone else notice how the TV news ratings have tanked on those shows? I don't usually play swami, but I predict that IF (and trust me the court fight makes it a BIG IF) they get their way and force liberals on the radio, they will be on hundreds of stations and NO ONE WILL BE LISTENING!!! Liberal hosts have tried and failed for years to successfully break into radio. They have never been able to assemble enough of a core audience to survive, much less thrive the way that hosts like Savage, Limbaugh, Hannity, Ingraham, etc. have for years. The people have spoken, and you can try to force feed America the liberal agenda, but then you will just have stations lose money, unable to sell those liberal shows, because NO ONE WILL LISTEN.

Stimulus Package(s) - Hmmm, this one has so many different doors to walk through. First, I was so embarrassed to watch as our elected officials rolled the American public by adding all these earmarks to this stuff. It was the mentality of the ship is sinking, so no one will miss this deck chair if I take it with me on the lifeboat. I understand something had to be done, but the news today was that Citi Group is posting the best quarter in 3 years. Well, if someone would pay all my debts, pay off my mortgage, and stock my freezer and pantry I could be that doing well too!
This was suppose to stabilize the stock market, but instead, the DOW is at the same level it was WHEN I GRADUATED FROM HIGH SCHOOL!! There should have been a hell of a lot more planning beforehand, and a ton of oversight after the fact. We now have neither, and the banks will still expect us to pay when they got FREE MONEY from the government. Where the hell is Mathew Lesko when you need him???

I'll stop there for now. Be back on tomorrow.

Joey

Wow! That Long Already??

2009-03-10T19:06:00.000-07:00

I was sitting at work looking at some old e-mails and realized that it has been almost 3 years since I have done anything with this blog. I was suppose to use it to "keep my chops" as it were by continuing to write about the things out there that attract my attention. Well, life caught up with me, and next thing you know, two moves, and another kid later, I finally get back to it.

Well, now I work for the 2nd largest long form radio network in the USA. I came to Oregon as a Staff Engineer, and now I am the Chief Engineer. It has been a bit of a culture shock, going from spending most of my time at transmitter sites keeping things going to having to deal with all the politics and behind the scenes stuff to keep programming to hundreds of stations.

We've been here in Oregon for 22 months on the 22nd of this month. Weird, I know. The kids have adjusted well. It's not quite as bad as it used to be for my mom and dad with Tammy and I, with kids always roaming around, but all 4 of the older one's have friends they are constantly on the phone with, and I am sure as soon as Gabe can talk he will pickup how to spend all his time on myspace/facebook, or the phone too.

I will start writing to this blog daily again. Just to rebuild my ability to speak my piece like I used to.

Thanks for reading.

Joey

Louisiana Politics

2006-05-17T13:31:00.000-07:00

I am so fedup with the current elections in New Orleans. Every candidate is resorting to name calling, half truths, and just outright lies. What happened to running on your record? What happened to running on the issues. It's become some sort of evil popularity contest. There is no possibility to take the high road. The mud slingers that call themselves professional political consultants have made an art of making voters more instrested in the dirt than the issues.

Come on people! Vote for the person you feel can do the best job, period. At this point in New Orleans, nothing else matters. It doesn't matter where they got financed, or who they party with, or who they said hello to on the way home from second grade.

To all the candidates, let me give you my humble opinion. You wasted your campaign's money, and a ton of the voter's time when you hired that overpriced "expert" that is running your campaign. Stop trying to cut down your opponent. Stop the double talk about how the "first day" your going to save the world. The only people that believe that you can make that kind of change are smoking or snorting stuff you don't want or need. Start giving specifics on how you can come into your position if elected, make some positive change for this city. More importantly, how you will bring together all the bickering factions locally and state wide into a unified group effort to put New Orleans and Louisiana back together.

I've seen the polls. Don't let a poll sway your vote. Vote for the person that you think will do the best job, not the one you think is the "less crooked" of the two. Do some research. Check the candidates records of both what they have done as a politician and in the private sector. Be educated, not just listen to the media and the tainted propaganda out there.

Most importantly, VOTE! Take the time to exercise your right.

You Have To See It for Yourself.

2006-03-26T08:33:00.000-08:00

I've been back home now for almost a month. As part of my new duties, I have to work on sites in Chalmette proper, as well as in lower Saint Bernard Parish, right between Regio and Delicroix. We lost the site in lower Saint Bernard, which has been rebuild, and the one in Chalmette got a couple of inches of water.

I thought I was prepared to see the devistation, but all the TV coverage, the posted pictures, and the stories told to me didn't prepare me for what's still out there. I've now taken the route that was a daily commute for me when I lived in the metro back in the early and mid 90's about a half dozen times. As you head down Claiborne you see things get worse until you get to the top of the Judge Sieber bridge, then it looks like some drunk went insane with a bulldozer. Pleaces I remember since I was a child, just gone.

Then you get down into chalmette, and see the businesses just completely washed out, and house after house gutted, abandoned, and debris piled 15 to 20 feet high in the front yard. I made the trek to our old apartment. The once crowded streets around it are a ghost town. I neighborhood that used to house hundreds of families, all gone except for the occaisional sherrif's deputy. My old apartment building has shifted. My old apartment completely gutted, and the door left open. Someone had gone through the entire area ripping open every mailbox.

Then I made my way down to the lower part of the parish. The further south I went, the more my jaw dropped. Katrina packed one hell of a punch. Buildings completely flattened. Houses missing, with the only thing left in sight is the piers the house used to be perched on 10 to 15 feet off the ground. The amount of cars, boats, containers, and debris scattered about like tinker toys just puts you in shock.

I've taken time to visit my friends and families homes in Lakeview, Gentilly, and on the northshore. Some are almost finished renovations, praying that life will somehow return to "normal", while most are just getting started, or even sitting around waiting for FEMA to get a clue.

Being away from home for a decade, I've noticed that even after all that has happened, most people are still the friendly, hospitible, yats I grew up with.

My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone still working to put the pieces together. This area will come back.

Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans

2005-09-04T23:20:00.000-07:00

I sit here, 8 hours away from the Home I love so, and my heart is breaking. Like everyone else, I am grateful for the friends and family that made it out safely. Most of my family fared well, but a few lost everything.

I am so thankful for the streaming reports from WWL-TV and WDSU in the beginning. It helped me breathe easier as the storm hit. After covering storms during my tenure in New Orleans radio, I expected some of the flooding and the damage, but like everyone else, felt The Crescent City had been spared "the nightmare" meteroligist have predicted since I was a child.

Then the reports started coming in. First St. Bernard, then New Orleans East, then the coastal parishes. The reports sounded like a bad joke, 8 feet of water on Judge Perez, 12 feet of water in the east.

My heart sank as I saw the first pictures from the air. I would look at the area, find a landmark I knew, and then flash back to the hundreds of times I had passed that intersection. It really hit home when I saw the flooding in the 9th ward. I lived in Chalmette, so I drove through there everyday. Watching them dropping people 15 feet up the side of the Judge Sieber bridge was like watching a really freaky version of the twilight zone.

Such a big deal has been made out of the looting. That happens duing every castrophe. The one's looking for food and water I had no issue with. How can you fault the peole trying to get stuff to survive? I will only say that the one's taking valuables, and the "gangs" will have to face their maker one day.

The truth is, we were told this would happen for as long as I can remember. The federal goverment wouldn't spend the money needed to bolster the levees to the level the Corps of Engineers wanted. None of us thought of leaving. I would have been home in SE LA if I could find a place there that would pay as well as I get here. New Orleans is a great place to live. It's like no other city on earth. It will be back. You can destroy buildings, but nothing can destroy the spirit that make New Orleans home.

Yes, the response was slow. But, they are not getting to the MS, or AL coastline any quicker than they got to us. Jessie, Al, and all the rest of the "it's a racal thing" crowd needs to shut up for a second and realize that the feds have screwed up everywhere, not just New Orleans, and LA.

Here's the real question, why didn't we spend the 3 billion the Corps of Engineers asked for over 20 years ago to shure up the levee system? 3 billion then would have stopped 100 billion of damage now. This isn't about what Ray, Kathleen, David, Mary, or even W has done (or hasn't done). The levee breach should have been solved way before any of them had any responsibility.

Yes, the federal response should have happened faster, everywhere. That's a given, but the Mayor, the Governor, the heads of all the local goverments around the city all asked everyone to leave 2 days before the storm hit.

I've been in AR since Feb 2005. Before that, I was living in Houma, LA just south of New Orleans. I evacuated for Hurricane Ivan. Thousands didn't, even though that was asked then too. I left late and watched as every TV outlet in the area had a fit because it seemed that even though those leaving was only about 40 - 50% of the area, the traffic jams were long, and the issues were evident.

I only have one issue with what Mayor Nagin, and Gov. Blanco did to prepare for this. Why did the buses not get used? As a last ditch effort, every school bus, and every RTA bus should have been put on a grid, one las ditch effort to evacuate everyone that wanted to go. If it only got a few thousand extra people out, it would have been a few thousand that didn't end up in the hell of the Superdome or Convention Center, or worse, dead.

I continue to pray that we will be able to recover many of the trapped people alive and well. I continue to pray for the families of the vitims to have the strength to get through the dark days ahead.